


Bobby's Many Coming Outs

by Multifandomx



Category: Diary of a Future President (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, First Kiss, Gen, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Slurs, Swearing, but just a little bit, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27123181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandomx/pseuds/Multifandomx
Summary: The moment Bobby realized he might not be straight was after kissing Monyca. He had hoped that kissing her would trigger whatever feelings his friends had for girls inside of him, but it did quite the opposite. He couldn’t pinpoint a moment when he knew he liked Liam though. He guesses it might have been in the storage closet, but he thinks he knew before that.
Relationships: Bobby Cañero-Reed & Elena Cañero-Reed, Bobby Cañero-Reed & Gabi Cañero-Reed, Bobby Cañero-Reed & Sam Faber, Bobby Cañero-Reed/Liam Carter, bobby cańero-reed & Danny & Ziggy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. Sam, Elena, Danny and Ziggy

The moment Bobby realized he might not be straight was after kissing Monyca. He had hoped that kissing her would trigger whatever feelings his friends had for girls inside of him, but it did quite the opposite. He couldn’t pinpoint a moment when he knew he liked Liam though. He guesses it might have been in the storage closet, but he thinks he knew before that. When Bobby had basically attacked Liam at the dance, he hoped maybe it would help those feelings kind of go away, but it did not. It almost made him realize more of what he felt for the other boy. 

He had spent the entirety of spring break thinking of how to approach Liam. He knew he needed to apologize to him, but he also felt like he owed him an explanation, and that was gonna be the hard part. So, when he texted Liam, he wanted to talk he had almost hoped that Liam would say he didn’t want to talk to Bobby, but of course he didn’t. 

He was standing at home pacing in the living room. He had gone home at lunch to think about what he was going to say, because he knew no one would be home, and he wouldn’t have to actively avoid his friends in the lunchroom. But of course, nothing really ever goes perfect during Bobby’s plans, because at that moment was when Sam opened the front door and saw Bobby in the living room. “I was about to leave,” he gave a small guilty looking smile to Sam. 

He obviously wasn’t buying it, but he just nodded. They stood in a slightly awkward silence, until Sam spoke. “Are you ok Bobby? You seem stressed out.” Sam put a hand on Bobby’s shoulder.

Bobby nodded frantically back at him, “yeah of course. I’m super chill.” Sam gave him a skeptical look. Bobby’s nodding turned into him shaking his head. He sat down on the couch behind him and put his face in his hands. 

He felt the couch dip beside him as Sam joined him. He put a gentle hand on Bobby’s upper back. “What’s going on?” His voice sounded genuine, like he really wanted to know and wasn’t just asking to seem like a good person.

Bobby looked up at Sam and let out a breath, “I really messed things up with one of my friends.” Sam nodded, like he was waiting for him to continue. He sat back against the couch and Sam retracted his hand. “We got into a huge fight and…and I’m not sure how to fix it. It’s completely my fault, but I don’t know how to apologize to them without saying something I don’t want to tell them yet.” Bobby took in a huge breath, not realizing he had nearly run out from how quickly he was talking.

Bobby looked at Sam again, it looked like he was trying to figure out the right thing to say. “Well, maybe you explain to them that you’re not ready to share that detail yet, and if they are a good friend they will understand.” Bobby nodded, “…are we talking about Monyca?” 

Bobby’s eyes widened and he looked away from Sam. He slowly shook his head, “It’s…Monyca and I broke up.” Sam looked at him with sympathy. “No! It was completely mutual…I actually kinda wanted to break up because of this fight.”

Sam looked confused now as Bobby looked at him, “do you like someone else?” Bobby nodded hesitantly, “are you in a fight with your friend because you like the same girl?” Bobby once again put his face in his hands and shook his head. Sam sat for a minute confused about what it could be about then, until it hit him. “Bobby…Bobby,” he finally looked up at Sam again. “Do…did you get into a fight with your friend because you…like them.” Bobby’s eyes were huge like Sam had just figured out some big secret. “You pushed them away because you’re scared of what it might do to your friendship.” Bobby nodded slowly, glad that Sam was spelling it out, so he didn’t have to say it. “You know, you should tell your friend. Maybe she feels the same way.”

There is was. The one part of the conversation he was dreading coming up, the gender of his crush. Bobby slowly lowered his eyes and sunk into the couch, hoping it would maybe swallow him up. He refused to make eye contact with Sam, so they sat in silence as Sam stared at Bobby, but Bobby stared at the wall. That is, until Sam got it. He heard Sam gasp a tiny bit, so he looked up at him, “it’s not a girl…is it Bobby?” 

He knew there was no harm in telling Sam. He knew he wouldn’t care, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t scary. They stared at each other for a moment. Bobby shook his head slowly, moving his eyes away from Sam’s gaze, “…no.” He was so quiet that he wasn’t sure if Sam would even hear him. When Sam didn’t respond immediately, Bobby began to assume the worst. He felt a familiar sting behind his eyes, “…sorry,” Bobby croaked out.

“What?” Sam was confused as he finally looked down at the boy who looked so small right now. He noticed the slow tears falling down his face, even if he was trying to wipe them away before they could fall. He realized what Bobby was thinking right now, and immediately pulled him into a side hug. “Hey, no. I didn’t mean for you to think…I don’t care if you like boys Bobby.” The boy looked up at him. He was obviously trying to pull himself back together, but then Sam pulled him in tighter, “it’s ok Bobby.” 

A fresh set of tears began to stream down Bobby’s face as he turned his head to cry into Sam’s shoulder. They sat like that for a couple minutes with Bobby crying and Sam rubbing his back. Finally, Bobby pulled away, “sorry.” He was trying to wipe the tear marks off his face.

“It’s alright,” Sam smiled at him. “I think you should tell your friend what you’re going through right now. Maybe not that you like him, if you aren’t comfortable doing that, but at least what you are feeling.” 

Bobby nodded and stood up, followed by Sam. “Thanks Sam. Um…could you not tell my mom or anything? No one else knows…” 

Sam mimicked locking his lips and throwing away the key. They both laughed, but then Sam thought of a question for Bobby. He wasn’t sure of he should ask it, but figured why not? “Bobby,” the kid looked at him. “Why tell me then?” 

Bobby looked away again. He gave a small shrug, “well, you were here, and seemed like a safe bet, because I figured you either wouldn’t care, or it wouldn’t matter if you did.” Sam nodded that made sense, as he was turning away to head out the door, leaving the articles he came for, because that would be too suspicious with Bobby there; Bobby spoke again, “and…it kinda felt like a conversation I would have had with…my dad.” 

Sam turned back towards him, “well thank you for trusting me Bobby. I know I’m not your dad and could never replace him, but I will always be here for you.” Bobby nodded. Sam nodded back. 

This time before he could turn around the teenager launched himself at Sam. He wrapped his arms tight around the adult. Sam stood stunned for a minute, before reciprocating the hug. “Thank you,” Bobby whispered into his shoulder. When they pulled apart Bobby threw his backpack over his shoulder and left with a “bye,” in Sam’s direction.

It was truly then that Sam realized that he might not have been ready to be a dad, but he was ready to be there for Bobby and Elena. He picked up some of his stuff, leaving others, confident he would be returning. 

\--

When Bobby talked to Liam that day, he didn’t end up telling him anything about how he was feelings. He really was planning on it, but then he got nervous and said something about being scared of doing high school tennis next year. He walked home after school and when he got there, he was alone. He was kind of thankful that he was alone. He knew his mom could read him like a book and he would have to tell her something. 

He made his way back to his bedroom and shut the door. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was unsure of how long he had been doing that for, before the reality of the situation hit him. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he covered his face with his hands. “God, why am I like this?” Just then his bedroom door opened.

“Why are you like what?” He flung himself into a sitting position and saw his mom standing in his doorway. He was searching for the words to say to his mom, an excuse, the truth, he wasn’t sure. His mom walked in and sat down at the end of his bed, “why are you like what, Bobby?”

He was still struggling to find the words, “um…nothing it’s no big deal.” Gabi gave him the classic mom eyes, saying ‘I know you’re lying.’ He didn’t know if he could handle this. Coming out was hard, and he had already told one person today and his mom…his mom was a big step. “I just…” He took a deep breath, “I can’t…” his mom put a hand on his shoulder. He lowered his eyes from hers, “I can’t tell you yet.” 

There was a beat of silence and Bobby was worried he had hurt his mom’s feelings, until she leaned over and hugged him. “That’s ok mi amor.” He hugged her back, feeling a sense of relief. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes, “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to tell me, ok?” Bobby nodded. She kissed him on the top of his head and stood up, “dinner will be ready in about an hour,” he nodded as she left the room.

He flopped back down onto his bed. He really did want to tell his mom; he knew everything would be ok. Camila was her best friend, and she was a lesbian. He was sure she would be fine with it, but there was always that small chance that she wouldn’t be. It was different when it was your own kids sometimes, but he didn’t think it would be for his mom. 

That night at dinner Bobby told his mom that he had talked to Sam about what was wrong that afternoon, and that he knew he could talk to her. “I don’t know, talking to Sam was easier I guess,” Gabi smiled and nodded at him as he explained the concept of the two types of gills from TriTon. Later in bed Bobby decided he couldn’t tell anyone else before telling his mom, so whether he told his mom tomorrow or in two months she would be the next person he told. He also had to nail down how to say what he was out loud without describing it as ‘liking Liam.’ That was his next mission, to be able to say what he actually was out loud. 

\--

Every day after school for the next week he spent time in front of bathroom mirror, trying to say the word to himself at least. It was officially the weekend and he had not made much progress past saying, “I like Liam,” so not much progress. 

It was Saturday morning and he was standing in front of his mirror; Elena was still asleep on the other side of her door. Bobby would usually be the one to sleep in later on the weekends, but Elena had just gotten back from Tallahassee, and Bobby hadn’t been sleeping easily these days. He was leaning on his sink looking at himself. He was so frustrated with himself. He knew what the word was, he knew that it applied to him, but he couldn’t say it. 

He was gripping onto the counter of his sink so hard his knuckles were turning white, trying to will himself to just say the freaking word. He looked up at himself, “I like Liam,” he let out a breath, “I like…I like boys.” He gave himself a small smile, that was something slightly new to him. He had said that before, but it was still hard. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and let it out, “I’m gay.” He smiled at himself in the mirror, before he heard a small gasp behind him. He whipped himself around and saw Elena standing at the door.

Bobby’s heartrate began to pick up. This was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to find out like this. “Bobby…” Elena approached him like he was a wild animal about to attack, “Bobby, it’s ok. It’s fine,” he felt like he was gonna throw up. When Elena reached him, she wrapped herself around him. He stood frozen or a second, but soon returned his sister’s hug. “It’s ok, I won’t tell anyone…I promise,” he nodded numbly. She pulled away, “I love you, Bobby.” He nodded again as Elena left the bathroom. 

He left the bathroom as well and closed his doors, he sat down on his bed and thought about what just happened. He just admitted for the first time that he was gay and of course his little sister just happened to walk in while he was saying it. Elena promised she wouldn’t tell anyone, but that girl had a big mouth. So, now he was on a time limit to get the nerve up to tell him mom, before Elena accidently did. He had to pull himself together. 

Maybe if he told someone else on his own terms it would make him feel better. He pulled out his phone, it was only 9am, so the chances of his friends being awake were slim, but he figured he would still text Danny and Ziggy. 

Bobby: Hey guys, is there any way we could meet up today? Just the three of us. I need to talk to you.

Ziggy: Yuh

Danny: *Danny liked your message*

Bobby smiled at his phone. His friends meant just about everything to him, even though he was scared; he knew everything was going to be ok. After setting up a time and place (noon, in Danny’s garage) he showered and got dressed. He started the walk around 11:30, yelling a “bye,” to his mom wherever she was in the house. 

On his way there he could feel himself becoming increasingly nervous. His heartrate was picking up again. He arrived at Danny’s about 10 minutes early. He knocked on the door and was greeted by Danny. “Hey dude, what’s up?” Bobby smiled and followed Danny through his house. When they got to garage Ziggy was already sitting on the couch. Danny sat next to him; Bobby stayed standing in front of them. “What’s going on man, and why can’t Liam be here?” Ziggy nodded along with Danny’s words.

Bobby began to wring out his hands, “I just…I’m not ready to tell him yet.” The boys looked up at him confused. Bobby ignored their looks and carried on. “I don’t know how you guys will react, but…but I needed to tell both of you.” They continued to give their friend their attention. “First of all…Monyca and I broke up.”

Both boys groaned, “nooooo, dude you two were so perfect together, what happened?” Ziggy groaned out. Bobby swallowed the lump he felt forming in his throat. “Did she dump you?” 

Bobby shook his head, “well…no. It was mutual…I guess. Technically it was initiated by me.” The boys looked incredibly confused. 

“We thought you liked her,” Danny looked disappointed.

“Yeah, and Monyca is smart, and nice and hot, dude. Why would you do that?” Ziggy leaned forward.

Bobby turned so he wasn’t facing his friends, “I um…I didn’t like her. I don’t think I ever did.” Both boys were quieter than Bobby had ever known them to be, as if they were waiting for him to continue. “The reason I never liked her is…uh…I think, well no. I know I am…” he took a big breath and continued to face the opposite direction than his friends. “I’m…I’m gay,” he whispered the last part. He didn’t turn around to see their reaction.

When his friends had been quiet for a little too long Bobby was sure he knew what was happening. They didn’t want to be his friends anymore. He turned and began walking quickly out of Danny’s garage, “sorry,” he mumbled as he was leaving. He got out of Danny’s front door and began speed walking down the street. He could feel his eyes welling up but refused to cry. He just tried to breathe through it. 

He heard hurried footsteps behind him, “Bobby, wait!” He turned around to see Ziggy running and Danny walking as fast as he could following him. Bobby stopped walking and turned around. When Ziggy caught up to him, he put a hand on his shoulder and began to try and catch his breath. “Damn, when did you get so fast?” Danny reached him seconds later and bent over trying to catch his breath as well.

Bobby didn’t say or do anything, just waited for his friends to be able to breathe again. After a minute Ziggy and Danny both stood up straight. “Bro, why did you run?” Danny looked at him like he was crazy.

Bobby took a small step back from his friends, still unsure about what was happening here. “Why did I run? You guys didn’t say anything. I got…I got scared.” 

Both Ziggy and Danny frowned hearing that, “bro, we just weren’t expecting it,” Danny nodded in agreement. “We don’t have a problem with gay people. Least of all someone who is our friend.”

Bobby continued to stare at his friends. He knew they probably wouldn’t like hate him or anything, but for some reason he couldn’t shake the nerves. “Bobby, can I ask you something?” Danny asked, ever the one to ask the uncomfortable questions everyone was thinking. Bobby once again just nodded at him. “So, you don’t have to answer this at all, but…you and Liam got really close really fast and it doesn’t make sense to me why you wouldn’t want to tell him too unless…unless you, maybe, like him.”

Bobby’s eyes darted around, “what?” He croaked out. “I…I don’t…I couldn’t…” both of his friends looked at him sympathetically. He let his shoulders slump, “…yeah. Yeah, I guess I do.” Danny and Ziggy both wrapped their arms around him, he reciprocated. They didn’t hug each other a lot, they just weren’t friends who did that. In this moment though Bobby appreciated it. 

When the boys released him; Danny patted him on the back, “come on let’s go back to my place and play a game or something.” He smiled and nodded back at his friend and began to walk beside them. “Hey Bobby,” Bobby looked over at Danny who wasn’t looking back at him. Bobby hummed positively to let him know to continue. “Does anyone else know?”

Bobby looked ahead again, “yeah…um Sam knows, because I kinda asked him for advice and he kind of guessed it wasn’t a girl…” he cleared his throat, “and um…Elena knows, because she walked in on me practicing saying it in the mirror.” Both boys grimaced, they knew how Elena was with secrets. “Exactly, which is why I decided to tell you guys. I didn’t want you guys to find out like that.” The boys nodded and continued their walk to Danny’s.


	2. Gabi, and Liam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been 2 weeks since Bobby had told Danny, Ziggy, and technically Elena. He and Elena would share looks at dinner whenever Liam would be brought up. It wasn’t even that Elena had heard him say he liked Liam, but she connected the dots. Sam also gave him similar looks when Bobby told Gabi at dinner one night that he and Monyca had broken up. He really wanted to tell her. He felt like his entire family was now keeping a secret from her, and he loves his mom more than anything and just wants to tell her, but he’s scared.

It had been 2 weeks since Bobby had told Danny, Ziggy, and technically Elena. He and Elena would share looks at dinner whenever Liam would be brought up. It wasn’t even that Elena had heard him say he liked Liam, but she connected the dots. Sam also gave him similar looks when Bobby told Gabi at dinner one night that he and Monyca had broken up. He really wanted to tell her. He felt like his entire family was now keeping a secret from her, and he loves his mom more than anything and just wants to tell her, but he’s scared. 

He was going to do it tonight though. He had decided it earlier that week. It was a Friday night and Elena was at Sasha’s house and Sam was working late on a case, so it was just the two of them for dinner. They decided on pizza that night, because Gabi didn’t want to cook anything and Bobby just wanted something easy for him, to make it seem as normal for him as possible. 

During dinner Gabi started out talking about her day and how work was going and all of the usual dinner talk. After she was finished, she asked Bobby about his day. “Um…yeah, it was chill.” He kept his eyes on his plate. He felt himself starting to back out of this plan.

Gabi reached across the table and tilted his head up, so they were making eye contact, “what’s wrong mi amor?” She moved her hand, so it was on his cheek and she was slowly rubbing his cheek bone with her thumb. Unable to lower his head, Bobby lowered his eyes. “Bobby, please talk to me baby.”

He looked back up at her and he knew his eyes were filling with tears. He knew it was ridiculous to be scared to tell her, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of doubt in the back of his mind. At the sight of her son’s eyes, which were obviously about to overflow with tears, she grabbed Bobby’s hand and walked him over to the couch. She sat facing him and put her hand back on his face, this time he leaned into it. With his next blink small tears started falling down his face. She could feel herself getting worked up, because seeing her son cry made her upset. She waited patiently for Bobby to speak, “please baby.”

Bobby sniffled and looked into his mom’s eyes, “I’m scared.” She frowned at him and gave him sad eyes. Before he could talk again a small sob escaped his throat.

Gabi moved so she was holding his hands in hers. “You don’t need to be scared to tell me anything, ever.” He nodded, “I will always love you no matter what.”

He looked down at his hands which were covered by his moms and tried to steady his breathing. “I know…” he let out a shaky breath, “I just…I want to tell you so bad, but I’m scared, and I know I shouldn’t be, but I am.” She nodded and pulled him into a hug.

She began rubbing his back, “it’s ok mi amor, it’s ok.” Bobby put his face in the crook of his mom’s shoulder. “It’s alright mijo, take your time.” They sat like that for almost 7 minutes, while Bobby thought of what to say next.

Finally, he pulled away and wiped his eyes. He looked at his mom and noticed that she had been crying too. He took a breath and began to talk, “I know I shouldn’t be scared to tell you anything,” Gabi nodded. “But…I’m just nervous about the reality of telling you everything.” She reached over and wiped a stray tear from Bobby’s cheek. “Elena and Sam already know,” this made Gabi’s eyes go wide, but she continued to stay silent. “Elena kind of found out on accident, and I told Sam because if he didn’t like it, it wouldn’t have really mattered.” He moved his eyes away from hers, “I’m scared to tell you, because what you think means a lot to me. I’ve thought about all the scenarios and have scared myself out of telling you over and over, but I need you to know now.”

Gabi took one of her son’s hands again, “I know you overthink things, mi amor, but nothing will change how I look at you.”

Bobby squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. He was going to do this. He opened his eyes and looked her in the eyes, “mom…” she smiled at him, he took in a breath, “I’m…I’m gay.” His lower lip immediately started quivering. He lowered his eyes and brought his hands up to his face. 

He began to cry harder; Gabi gathered her son into a tight hug as he cried. “It’s alright baby. It’s ok,” she began shushing him and petting his hair.

He burrowed himself deeper into his mom’s shoulder, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, mom.” Gabi continued to hold, and slightly rock, her son, while she ran her fingers through his hair. That’s how they stayed for a long time, until Bobby was able to breath steadily again. 

When he pulled away Gabi reached over and grabbed his face. She brought the top of his head to her lips and kissed it. She released his face and wiped a tear on the way. “Bobby, you do not need to apologize to me for that,” he nodded slowly. “I love you and your sister more than anything, ok?” He nodded again. “I do not care who you are mi amor. I don’t care that you’re gay. I love you for everything you are.” Bobby leaned forward to hug his mom again.

When they pulled away Bobby let out a breath, he didn’t realize he was holding. “I also think I like Liam,” he said shyly. 

She nodded and took one of his hands again, “does he know that you’re gay?” 

Bobby shook his head, “no, but Danny and Ziggy do. I’m just nervous to tell him, because what if he connects the dots and then doesn’t even want to be my friend anymore.”

“Mi amor, slow down. Take a breath,” Bobby took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “You should tell him whatever you are ready to tell him. If that’s nothing, then don’t tell him anything, if that’s everything, tell him everything. If he is a true friend, he won’t care.” She rubbed her hand over Bobby’s hair once more, “ok?” 

Bobby nodded, “ok,” Gabi smiled and stood up. “Mom,” she turned around to face him. “Can I ask you something?” 

She nodded and sat back down next to her son, “of course, anything, always.” 

Bobby nodded and looked into her eyes, “what…what do you think dad would have said?” 

She smiled sadly at her eldest child, “he would have said the same thing. He loved you and Elena with everything he had. You being gay would not have changed that at all, alright?” 

He nodded and smiled, “thanks. Do you think he saw that? Me telling you?”

Gabi leaned over and kissed Bobby’s forehead, “of course mijo, and I bet he is so proud of you.” With that Gabi stood up and started cleaning up the kitchen. So, coming out to everyone had, so far, gone to plan. No bad reactions, not that he truly expected any, but Liam was bound to be the hardest. He really wasn’t sure when or if he wanted to tell him. Well, of course he wanted to tell him, he is one of his best friends, but he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to tell him. Bobby sunk into the back of the couch. He was happy with everything. His mom still loved him, not that he thought she wouldn’t, his friends still wanted to be his friends, not that he thought they wouldn’t. Everything had gone how he thought, let’s hope he can say the same for Liam.

\--

It had been almost two months of Bobby, Ziggy and Danny keeping, not only Bobby’s sexuality, but also his crush on Liam a secret. Bobby felt bad for asking his friends to basically lie to Liam, but Bobby wasn’t ready yet. When Bobby had finally told Liam that he and Monyca had broken up he gave him some bullshit excuse. Liam seemed to buy it and it wasn’t brought up again. That is until one day at tennis practice. 

Jason was new to the team and, frankly, he is a dick. He isn’t good at tennis but acts like he’s the all-star of the team. Jason was the one to stir shit up in Bobby’s peaceful life. Bobby, Ziggy, Danny, and Liam were all standing by the fence talking and get a drink of water; when Jason walked up and threw is arm around Bobby’s shoulder.

“Hey Bob,” Jason was the only person in the world who called him that and he hated it. Jason knew he hated it, hence why he did it. 

“What, Jason?” Bobby seethed through his teeth. He really did not like this kid. He had it out for Bobby, he didn’t know why, but he did.

“I heard an interesting rumor about you today.” Jason removed his arm from around Bobby and turned to face him. “I heard that you and Monyca broke up, because you like someone else.” Jason raised his eyebrow.

Bobby rolled his eyes, “ok, so what?” Jason got a grin on his face. It looked evil almost, like he was about to ruin his life in that moment.

“See, that’s what I thought too, you know?” Jason put a hand on Bobby’s shoulder, “until I heard it was a guy.” Bobby’s eyes blew out of his head. He looked around at his friends who had all clearly heard him. Danny and Ziggy looked panicked, but Liam just looked confused. “Oh my god, it’s true isn’t it?” Jason laughed, “you guys broke up, because you’re a fag.” 

Bobby shrugged Jason’s hand harshly off his shoulder, “you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bobby could feel himself getting angry. He promised his mom he wouldn’t get into a fight again, but God he wanted to punch Jason.

Jason laughed again, “no, see, I think I do actually. You like guys. You aren’t even denying it. Honestly it’s path-“ Jason was cut off by Bobby’s fist connecting with his nose. “Oh my god! What the fuck, man?!” Jason put his hands up to his nose to find it was bleeding. 

Their coach ran over after hearing Jason scream, “what is happening over here?” He looked between all the guys, while grabbing an ice pack for Jason.

Jason held the ice pack to his nose, “Bobby punched me, coach.” 

His coach’s eyes went to Bobby, “is that true Bobby?” He didn’t know what to say. Technically it was true, but Jason had definitely deserved it. 

He was about to speak when Danny chimed in, “sir, he deserved it. He was saying really hurtful things to Bobby.” Ziggy and Liam both nodded, backing up their friend’s claim. 

Coach rubbed his hand over his face, “Jason go to the nurse’s office.” Jason glared at Bobby as he walked away. “Bobby, I don’t care if Jason deserved it or not. We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to physical violence.” Bobby lowered his eyes; he knew where this was going. “Come on, we’re going to see the principle. Practice is over everyone, go home!” He yelled to the other boys who were mulling around. 

The walk to the principal’s office was unbearably quiet. After coach explained what had happened Bobby had to wait for his mom to come to the school. When his mom got their she and the principal were negotiating his punishment. Bobby knew if he told when the complete story, he might get some sympathy, but he was just tired of today and wanted to go home. He ended up with a 3 day suspension.

In the car his mom was silent, but she was angry he could tell. She was waiting to see if he was gonna say anything, which he wasn’t. He stared, silently, out the passenger side window. About 3 minutes into the drive Gabi finally gave up her composure. “Robert Cañero-Reed, we have been over this. Violence is not the answer. I guess one week without your phone wasn’t enough. You wanted to have it gone for two weeks?” Bobby slowly shook his head. He could feel his eyes getting wet at his mom’s words. “Bobby, if you don’t want to get punished then you need to stop being vio-“

“He called me a fag, mom.” Bobby cut off his mom, but still stared out the window. “He called me a fag in front of Danny, Ziggy, and Liam.” He looked over at his mom and noticed her eyes wide, but still focused on the road. “So yeah, I punched him, but he outed me.” Bobby turned back around so he was looking out the window.

Gabi reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off. “Mijo, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Bobby turned back around so he was facing his mom, “because it wouldn’t have made a fucking difference! I punched him, just because he called me a fag doesn’t me, I should have punched him.” Bobby exploded on his mother. Her wide eyes momentarily flicked over to her son. Bobby wiped his eyes as he tried to regain his composure, “sorry for swearing…it’s chill.” He continued to look out the window the rest of the way home.

When they got home, Bobby put his phone on the counter and went right to his room. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. Instead, he just laid down under the covers of his bed and stared at the wall opposite from his door. After an unknown period of time someone knocked on him bedroom door, “huh?” He was muffled into his pillow, but the person still heard him, so it must have been his mom. 

“Bobby,” he turned his head to face her. “Liam is here. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll tell him to go.”

Bobby shook his head and sat up, “no, it’s fine. But aren’t I grounded and not allowed to see friends?” 

Gabi gave him a soft smile, “I’m going to make an exception this once.” She winked at him as she left the doorway leaving it open for him to exit. He walked into the living room to find Liam. 

Liam smiled at him, and there were those damn butterflies, “hey Bobby.” Bobby gave him a kind of half smile and gestured for him to follow. 

He led them into his back yard and over to their old playset they still have. He sat on one swing, Liam on the other. “What do you want?” Bobby asked but sounded much more hostile than he had meant to.

Liam looked over at Bobby, “I just wanted to see if you were alright.” 

Bobby let out a weak laugh, “oh yeah, I’m spectacular, Liam. Thank you for asking.” Bobby really wasn’t meaning to sound so harsh, but it was the only mood he could convey right now. Bobby whipped his eyes over to Liam. When he saw his friend’s kind looking face his demeanor changed, “sorry. Yeah, I guess I’m fine.”

Liam nodded, “I’m sorry that happened.” Bobby shrugged, “so…is it true?” There is was, the question he knew Liam came over here to hear the answer of. 

Bobby looked away and looked at his shoes kicking the dirt underneath him. “…yeah. I guess it is true. I get if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore. It’s ok, I won’t hold it against you.” 

“Oh,” Liam responded. This was the point when he expected Liam to walk away from him forever, but he didn’t. “Bobby, I’m not going to stop being friends with you.” 

Bobby turned his head to face Liam, “you’re not?”

Liam shook his head, “did I ever tell you the actual reason I moved down here?” Bobby did not see how this was relevant, but shook his head, nonetheless. “My parents kicked me out.” Bobby’s eyes grew large, “well technically I was kicked out, but am allowed back for holidays and family functions. But they told me I couldn’t live there permanently.” Bobby looked at Liam confused, “basically…my mom caught me…she caught me kissing a boy.” Liam sped through the last part of the sentence, “she started crying, and screamed at the boy to get out, which he did. She dragged me into the living room and made me wait for my dad to come home.” Bobby could see Liam getting emotional, “I knew what was going to happen. How my parents always spoke about ‘those kinds of people’ so I guess I wasn’t surprised.” 

Liam stood and began to pace in front of Bobby, “when my dad got home, my mom told him what had happened. I had never seen him so angry.” He began to wipe at his eyes, “he told me there was no way I would be staying in his house, with that ‘lifestyle.’ I tried to explain to them that I’m bisexual and not gay, but that didn’t really do much.” He sat back down on the swing, “that night I called my grandma and told her what had happened, and she said I could come live with her. So, that’s why I’m here, because my grandma is the only person in my family who accepts me fully.” He looked over at Bobby and gave a slight smile.

Bobby wiped his eyes; he hadn’t even realized he was crying. “Liam…I am so sorry. I had no idea.”

Liam shrugged, “it’s ok. I just didn’t really know how you guys would react and I didn’t want to risk losing my only friends.”

Bobby nodded, it made complete sense. “Well Danny and Ziggy already know about me, so they won’t care. I’m pretty sure by tomorrow most of the school will know about me,” he gave a weak laugh. “Although, I won’t know, because I am suspended for 3 days.” Bobby let out an actual laugh, which set off Liam laughing. The two boys dissolved into laugher for a long time, before finally pulling it together. Bobby wiped his eyes where the tears of laughter had gathered; Liam did the same. The two boys looked at each other. Bobby realized this was as good a moment as any. “I wanted to tell you too, but I was scared, because…I like you, Liam.” He looked at the ground again. 

Liam was quiet for a minute, “really?” Bobby just nodded while maintaining eye contact with his shoes. “Bobby,” he didn’t look up. “Bobby,” this time he did. “I like you too…I just wasn’t sure how you would react.” Liam gave Bobby a dopey smile.

“Really?” It was Liam’s turn to nod. Bobby returned the dopey smile. Both boys stood up and wrapped their arms around the other. “We are morons,” Bobby whispered into Liam’s shoulder.

Liam let out a laugh, “yup.” Both boys began laughing in each other arms. When they pulled away the looked into each other’s eyes; their laughter dying out. “Bobby?” He raised his eyebrows at Liam as an answer. “Can I…can I kiss you?”

Bobby let a small smile grace is face, “please.” Liam rested a hand on Bobby’s cheek as he pulled him in. Bobby put one hand on Liam’s shoulder and the other bracing himself on his chest. Their lips connected and there it was, the feeling he was supposed to have had with Monyca, but never did. Bobby wrapped his arms around Liam’s neck, pulling him in closer. Liam put his arms around Bobby’s waist, doing the same thing.

Bobby brought one hand up to grip the back of Liam’s head. Just then Bobby felt Liam’s tongue poking at his lips. Bobby opened them easily. Liam’s tongue slipped inside his mouth, exploring it. Then Bobby let out a slight moan bringing them back to reality. Both boys pulled away at the same time. They both blushed and gave each other an awkward smile. Bobby couldn’t believe that their first make out session was in the middle if his backyard where anyone could have seen them, but thankfully no one did. Liam reached back over to embrace Bobby again. He rested his head on Liam’s shoulder. “So, does this make us boyfriends?” Bobby pulled away slightly to make eye contact to ask his question. 

Liam just smiled back at him, “God, I hope so.” Bobby put his head back on Liam’s shoulder and squeezed him tighter.


End file.
